Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Now here is some change and stimulus that actually makes sense! Tax breaks that not only encourage Americans to spend, but spend on helping out the American Auto Industry. See how this works, now? Better than the $800 Billion, er, $900 Billion, er $1.2 Trillion Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Act.

The Senate voted yesterday to give a tax break to new-car buyers, setting aside bipartisan concerns over the size of an economic stimulus bill with a price tag approaching $900 billion.

The 71-to-26 vote to add the tax break came as President Obama signaled opposition to congressional attempts to insert "buy American" provisions into the legislation, saying in one of a series of television interviews that "we can't send a protectionist message."

Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, led the successful effort to help the beleaguered auto industry by allowing many car buyers to claim an income tax deduction for sales taxes paid on new autos and interest payments on car loans. "I believe we can help by getting the consumer into the showroom," she said. A couple would save an estimated $1,553 on a new $25,000 car, aides said.

Senate Republicans pushed through an amendment to remove a tax break for movie producers and blocked Democrats from adding $25 billion for highways, mass transit, and water projects to the package, insisting that additional infrastructure projects be paid for with cuts elsewhere in the bill. The Democratic amendment won 58 votes, just shy of the 60 needed under Senate budget rules.